Lake St. John — If Norman Rockwell had lived on Lake St. John, his art would have undoubtedly looked very different — it would have looked like Saturday.

On docks across Lake St. John mothers slathered children in sunscreen, girls sunbathed and the hum of boat motors filled the hot summer air for the Lake St. John Flotilla.

At 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon a lone boat pulled to the dock at the Steckler house for the blessing of the fleet.

“Bless the boats on this lake,” the Rev. Louis Sklar prayed.

And with a sprinkling of holy water, Sklar blessed the vessel before it puttered on its way.

As Sklar blessed the fleet of Flotilla for the third consecutive year on Saturday, some prepared to participate in the event for the first time.

One dock over from the Steckler’s, judges readied themselves to score decorated boats.

Larry Woody tried his hand at judging boats for the first time on Saturday.

“We’re going to be looking for creativity, effort and spirit,” Woody said.

Judging started in the early afternoon, the first boat to pass the judges’ pier had a pirate theme.

“People put a lot of effort into these boats,” he said.

In fact, after the judging was done Woody said he was surprised by the amount of effort flotilla fans put into their boats.

“It represents a lot of hard work,” he said. “It was impressive. “

Woody said one of his favorite floats to pass the dock was one decorated to look like a chuck wagon.

“It looked like it was being pulled by horses,” he said.

Another was contestant’s boat was made to look like a battleship.

“It was really amazing,” Woody said.

And amazement was just what the judges were looking for.

Judge Randy Miller said he would be awarding points for originality.

“I want to see something different,” he said. “Something no one has ever done before.”

But no matter the originality or creativity displayed on the water, for some the flotilla has nothing to do with boats at all.

Gerrit Steckler said his family has been hosting Flotilla parties on their dock for years.

And for Steckler the most important aspect of the Flotilla is not on the water.

“It’s a family thing,” he said. “That’s what this is all about.”